bodyguard ; kth

9 ; taeby?

BEEP BEEP

"no fingerprints were found on the letters, taehyung."

"are you sure?"

"yeah, we ran several tests but all of them came back inconclusive, whoever sent these to aera knows their shit."

"okay, thanks. keep me updated, i'll talk to you later, jimin."

BEEP BEEP

it's been three weeks of constant struggle. i handed in the death threats to my friends working at the police, i thought they could find at least a little fingerprint. but nothing. i had a feeling that the person who sent the letters also planted the bomb.

this person was smart, i needed to strike before they did.

i exited the phone booth, starting to walk back towards aera's house. it was starting get easier around aera, she was slowly warming up to me. i didn't need to follow her everywhere because she mostly stayed at home. there would be days when she wanted to go out with friends, but i declined. she would throw a little tantrum but then would settle.

it was hard seeing her smile when there was someone trying to kill her. i told jaeho to tell her so many times and he would say, "i'm getting to it."

walking into my office, i scanned over the millions of documents spread around. in my free time, i would also research aera's past. i read many articles about her previous boyfriends, her celebrity feuds and other rumours, but everything ended on a positive note. there was no one holding a grudge against her.

there had to be something i was missing.

▬▬ι═══════> <═══════ι▬▬

"which one suits me better?"

i turned my head, looking at aera who held two identical looking tops. she lifted one up and asked, "this one is more pink but this one has more glitter." it was saturday and she wanted to go shopping. it's been three hours and we've been through so many stores, she's bought dozens of shoes, shirts and sunglasses. my feet couldn't take it anymore.

i ignored her, turning around to face the entrance of the store. aera sighed behind me, muttering, "i'll just get both." she proceeded to walk into the changing rooms, closing the curtain behind her.

the store was empty, aera had the store to herself. there would be fans waiting outside, all screaming her name. jae waited outside in the car, playing games on his phone.

a few minutes later, she called out my name again.

"taehyung."

i hummed in response, uninterested.

"can i call you taeby?"

my expression turned sour, i turned my head to look at the curtain with her behind it. i could tell she was smiling behind them.

"no."

aera frowned instantly, creasing her eyebrows. she said, "pleaseeee. it fits you perfectly. 'tae' comes from the first part of your name and 'by' comes from baby because you're stupid and annoying. taeby."

i sighed in annoyance, shaking my head in response.

"please?"

"no."

"why not? it's cute."

"i don't like it."

"pretty please?"

"no."

"taeby, please?"

"stop."

she paused, saying moments later, "you leave me no choice." i heard her shuffling in the fitting room. she rashly pulled the curtain open, creating a loud noise.

i looked at her. the moment i laid eyes on her, i felt my cheeks burn while my heart starting beating uncontrollably. she stood there..in only her bra and panties. an innocent look on her face as she smiled.

i cleared my throat, looking away quickly.

"what are you doing? get back inside," i harshly whispered, looking if anyone else was around.

"only if you let me call you taeby," she retorted, crossing her arms.

"you're crazy, i told you no. just go inside before someone sees you."

"why are you getting so worked up? you're my bodyguard and you need to follow me everywhere, might as well get used to seeing me naked," she said, smiling mischievously.

i rolled my eyes, telling her, "just go back inside."

aera let out a sigh of defeat. she turned around, heading back inside. but before she did, something caught her eye. she asked me, "can you pass me that red bra over there."

i looked at the bra hung on the wall, then back into her eyes.

"i'm here to keep you alive, not help you shop."